


Born Shattered, Raised Broken

by HJ_Fotemr



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Episode AU: s04e11 Three Gems and a Baby, Gen, One-Shot, Spoilers for Change Your Mind, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 09:59:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17578739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HJ_Fotemr/pseuds/HJ_Fotemr
Summary: Pearl didn't back off that day in the van.(Or: I impulsively started to write an AU for a show I've always explicitly avoided fanfiction of and decided to leave it at a "what if" one-shot because everything after that is a whole can of worms.)





	Born Shattered, Raised Broken

“Do it.”

Pearl looked up, breaking the moment. The tension faded, but her fingers remained wrapped around the edge of the gem (of Rose) still and uncertain.

Amethyst flushed. “I—just do it. I want Rose back!”

“No,” Pearl said, though her hand didn’t move. The little bundle squirmed and tried to wrap its grubby paws around her wrist. “She—she wanted this.”

Amethyst groaned. “Who cares what she wanted? I mean—” She glanced up at Garnet. Finding nothing, she lowered her voice. “Rose didn’t know what she was doing. Either that, or she didn’t think what it’d do to _us._ I love Rose, but sometimes she’s even more thoughtless than I am. This was... ugh, it was a bad idea.”

Turning back to the baby, Pearl tightened her grip. “Garnet?”

Garnet considered. “Steven isn’t the kind of fusion we’re used to. There is Rose, and then there is... Greg. The part of him that’s Greg doesn’t have a history, and Rose has clearly adapted to that. Steven doesn’t have any of her memories, or is incapable of understanding them.

“And you’re right, Amethyst. She can be thoughtless. Especially since the war ended. I _think_ ,” Garnet decided, speaking carefully now, “that Rose should be given the opportunity to consider what she’s done with hindsight. If she so chooses, she can re-fuse and become Steven again.”

The Crystal Gems let out a collective sigh. Amethyst smiled weakly. “Yeah, it’s not like it’d be permanent. She’ll understand.”

Pearl inhaled slowly, expanding lungs she didn’t need but had found useful in times of stress. She tightened her grip, and the tips of her fingers slipped between the diamond ( _How will I explain will she be mad I should hide it they can’t know I’ll just shield her with my hands an—)_ and the soft, uncomfortably warm flesh of the child. It grew still, gazing up at her with those wide, curious eyes.

“It’s only temporary,” Pearl told him, and pulled.

* * *

 

Greg had made plenty of casual acquaintances since he’d set up permanent residence in Beach City. There was Vidalia, the Millers, his boss... He mostly kept to himself, and he wouldn’t call most of them his _friends_ per say, but when Rose, the local pink lady who had lived on the beach for as long as anyone could remember, had died giving birth to Mr. Universe’s son? In a small town like this, people were generally aware of when someone died or was born.

When Greg Universe started parading around a pair of twins, rather than the single child they’d all been aware of, that took some notice. The fact that one had pink skin, hair, and eyes? Well, they all knew something had been weird about their mother. No one questioned it exactly, but gossip has a way of spreading in small towns. They spoke of Greg’s private attitude, and how the pink one hadn’t been spotted until six months in. They noticed the fact that, now that they knew about him, neither child was ever seen apart from the other. Greg didn’t even hold them in separate arms; they clung to each other like a pair of confused koalas.

They wondered what the pink one’s name was, but no one wanted to ask directly.

“Your boys are so cute,” Mrs. Barriga cooed. “So calm and happy. I would give my left foot for a son as tame as Steven or...”

Greg gave a strained smile. “Heh, you should see them at home. I can’t get ‘em to sleep without an hour of singing before bed. My number one fan! Uh, fans.”

She spoke of this encounter in hushed tones. “He knew I was asking for a name. Why won’t he say?”

“I bet he doesn’t even know. That pink lady’s friends must have hidden him away for six months. That’s why he just appeared!”

Solemn heads would nod in agreement.

The fresh father in town began disappearing more and more frequently. No one was sure where he lived except Vidalia, and she wasn’t exactly the town crier, so no one was sure where he was hiding. A few times, about three weeks into all this, some more talkative townies spotted his van leaving town and then re-entering hours later. Greg Universe developed dark shadows under his eyes. Children reported shouting on the beach, an angry old man arguing with the mysterious women on the other side of that fence. And—say—when had that fence gone back up?

The night he came to Vidalia’s, two bundles wrapped up in the crook of either arm, no one was around to create any of the usual gossip. All the townies knew was that, the very next day, the neighborhood chill mom was suddenly laughing and talking with the rest of them. “Oh, he was just taking care of a friend’s kid,” she told them all. “Yeah, he explained it to me last night. You won’t believe this, but we got them mixed up! Steven was the _pink_ one all along. Yep. I dunno, something about a magic mom. You know how those beach ladies are. He sent the other kid home this morning.”

Vidalia was generally considered a trustworthy woman, so they believed her. No one in town ever learned the truth of what happened that night, how Greg had come crying, scared, and lost to Vidalia’s door. How he had held in his arms a pair of still infants, separated in his arms. How he explained, shaking, what the gems had done, and how they hadn’t known—they _couldn’t have known—_

“Garnet said he would re-fuse, or that they’d teach him how, or-or they’d just—not—she can see the _future,_ I— How was I supposed to know he couldn’t survive like...”

Vidalia helped him as best she could, but in the end all she could do was promise not to tell anyone. “And if you ever need help with... the other one, you know where to find me.”

For a moment, after all was said and done, Vidalia and Greg Universe stared, wondering, at what was left of the child. He had barely moved. He hadn’t cried. Only quiet breaths and occasional blinks betrayed the fact that he wasn’t...

As he left the next morning, Greg felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down. What was left of his baby looked up. They stared at each other, and Greg began to discern something resembling an emotion. He held him close, pressing Steven’s tiny pink cheek into his shirt, and they both cried.

**Author's Note:**

> I won't be writing more because: What if he doesn't age? What if he never develops a personality? What if he hurts people? What if there's literally no happy ending, bittersweet or otherwise, for me to end it on? What about the fact that the only "happy" endings I can think of are entirely unsatisfying? These are all important questions. If anyone can answer them satisfactorily, maybe more can be written. I am not that anyone.
> 
> Edit: However, I'm probably going to try my hand at what would happen if Human Steven died in Change Your Mind, because I'm just Like That.
> 
> Edit again: [**I wrote that.**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19193461/chapters/45627373)


End file.
